St Mary's CofE Primary School Moston Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve further the provision in the early years by ensuring that staff:
  • consistently provide activities that encourage children to think more deeply during periods where they are free to choose in which areas to work and play.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning in science and geography by ensuring that teachers:
  • have high expectations of what pupils can achieve in these subjects
  • set work that consistently challenges pupils and develops their knowledge, skills and understanding in these subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has overseen significant improvements at the school over the past two years. He has high expectations of staff and pupils and he has created a culture of respect and tolerance. His actions have considerably improved the quality of teaching and the progress that pupils make across the early years and key stages 1 and 2.
• There are positive relationships between school leaders, staff and pupils. Staff value the support that leaders provide and the many opportunities that they have for training and development. Pupils value the care, guidance and support that staff provide and the good teaching that they receive each day.
• Parents are fully supportive of the school’s staff and leadership team. They say that their children are well looked after and make good progress.
• Pupils benefit from a well-planned curriculum that helps them to acquire knowledge, understanding and skills in most subjects. It also contributes to their physical, mental and personal well-being. For example, the school has a strong commitment to physical education and pupils take part in many inter-school sporting events. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 also participate in an annual arts project, which last year involved studying the Shakespeare play ‘A Winter’s Tale’. Pupils created some high-quality artwork, and participated in performances that incorporated music, drama and dance.
• There is a strong Christian ethos at St Mary’s. Respect and tolerance are core features of school life. School leaders ensure that pupils are taught to value the diversity which they experience each day in school. Pupils learn about different faiths and beliefs. They also learn about democracy and are provided with regular opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas with staff and school leaders. This contributes greatly to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepares them well for life in modern Britain.
• School leaders, including governors, make sure that pupil premium funding is used effectively to support pupils’ learning. Their well-targeted use of this funding has resulted in disadvantaged pupils making improved progress over the past two years. Pupils’ attainment also improved in 2017 and 2018, particularly in reading and mathematics. The gaps between what these pupils and other pupils nationally achieve are diminishing.
• School leaders make good use of the additional funding for sports and physical education. Sports coaches work alongside staff to provide additional expertise within lessons. The funding has also been used to widen the breadth of sports available to pupils. For example, pupils in key stage 2 have recently learned how to play handball. During this inspection, some pupils took part in an inter-school tennis tournament.
• Special educational needs funding is used well to support pupils with SEND. School leaders ensure that additional support is deployed effectively to meet pupils’ needs. They make regular checks to review the impact of this support, making adjustments where necessary. As a result, pupils with SEND make good progress from their individual starting points.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective. Governors provide good levels of support and challenge to school leaders. They have an accurate and realistic view of the school and understand the school’s priorities for improvement.
• Governors visit the school regularly to gain a first-hand view of the school’s work. As a result, they know how teaching has improved and the impact that this has had on pupils’ progress and attainment. Along with the headteacher, governors help to ensure that staff have access to appropriate support and training.
• Governors make the necessary checks to ensure that any additional funding that the school receives is spent effectively. They ask searching questions of the headteacher to ensure that the strategies employed, for example to support disadvantaged pupils, are effective.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• School leaders provide regular training and clear advice to staff about the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures. Leaders have ensured that all members of staff are aware of their safeguarding duties and understand how to respond to any concerns about a pupil’s welfare or safety.
• Leaders keep detailed records of all concerns that are raised by staff and the steps that are taken to support pupils and resolve situations. Where necessary, leaders work well with external agencies to support and protect those involved.
• The governing body help to ensure that all statutory requirements regarding the safeguarding of pupils are met. Governors have attended relevant training and make regular checks on the school’s policies and procedures.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers mainly have high expectations of what they want pupils to achieve. They work effectively with teaching assistants to ensure that pupils’ individual learning and pastoral needs are well met. As a result, pupils across the school are now making good progress in their learning.
• Phonics is taught well. Phonics sessions are well structured, and staff use their subject knowledge well to move pupils on in their learning and broaden their vocabulary. Pupils who read with inspectors demonstrated how well they use phonics to work out unfamiliar words.
• There has been a strong and effective focus on improving standards in reading. Staff encourage pupils to develop a love of books from a young age. They regularly share books with pupils and check on how well they are progressing in developing their comprehension skills. Pupils in key stage 2 enjoy reading class novels together, and books are increasingly used to support learning across the curriculum. As a result, all pupils, including the most able, make good progress in this subject.
• The focus on developing reading across the school has also had a positive impact on pupils’ writing. Staff provide pupils with regular opportunities to write at length, and for different purposes. Inspectors saw many examples of good-quality writing across the school. Teachers ensure that pupils make good progress in their understanding and use of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Pupils also take care with their handwriting and almost all present their work neatly.
• The teaching of mathematics is a strength of the school. A consistent approach to teaching this subject, across key stages 1 and 2, helps pupils to become fluent in developing key mathematical knowledge and skills. Teachers provide regular opportunities for pupils to apply these skills to investigate and solve problems. For example, pupils in Year 5 were recently asked to interpret line graphs showing the heart rates of Premier League footballers during a match. They made plausible suggestions about the changes that occurred and what might have caused the peaks and troughs in the data that had been recorded.
• Over time, the teaching of science and geography is not consistently strong across the school. At times, teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low and the work that they set does not provide enough challenge for them.
• Teaching assistants provide good support, both in class and when supporting groups and individual pupils. They provide essential information for teachers about how well pupils are learning. This helps to ensure that teachers plan effectively to meet pupils’ needs in future lessons.
• Parents value the regular opportunities that they get to visit school and find out about how well their children are progressing. They are kept well informed about the school’s work and are encouraged to support their children’s learning at home.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are proud of their school and keen to make a positive contribution to school life. Older pupils enjoy the different roles available to them. They particularly enjoy being part of the Eco team, who have recently looked at ways of reducing the waste produced across the school. Many Year 6 pupils act as a ‘buddy’ to children in the early years, looking out for them at playtimes and during the dinner break.
• The school environment is extremely well maintained, both inside and outside in the school grounds. It is used well to support learning. The playground contains a range of equipment to encourage physical activity. Staff have developed a ‘nature garden’ which is used well to promote many aspects of pupils’ learning outdoors. Inside, pupils’ work is celebrated in displays in classrooms and corridors. There are many excellent examples of pupils’ writing and some high-quality artwork.
• Pupils spoken to during the inspection demonstrated a good understanding of bullying. They knew about different forms of bullying and discussed behaviour with the inspector in a mature way. They said that bullying is a rare occurrence and that they know staff will resolve behaviour issues quickly and effectively.
• Pupils showed a good understanding of the risks associated with the use of the internet and how to keep themselves safe while online.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are friendly, polite and welcoming to visitors. They behave well, both in class and during breaktimes. They show pride in their work, particularly in their writing and mathematics books.
• Pupils behave well at the breakfast club, which provides a warm and welcoming start to the school day for many pupils. They enjoy the healthy food available and the opportunity to play games with their friends.
• Parents said that behaviour is good and that pupils are well looked after at the school. All members of staff said that they feel well supported by leaders in managing behaviour.
• The school has worked successfully to reduce absence. Over the past three years, attendance has been above the national average and very few pupils are persistently absent from school.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The proportion of pupils achieving and exceeding the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 was above the national average in 2017. Although outcomes were not quite as strong in 2018, inspectors saw evidence in pupils’ books that standards are improving across the school.
• Pupils make good progress in developing their knowledge of phonics. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 was close to the national average in 2018. Good support is provided for those pupils who did not reach the expected standard and most go on to become competent readers.
• There have been improvements to pupils’ attainment in reading over the past three years. In 2017, the proportion of pupils attaining and exceeding the expected standard at the end of key stage 2 was above the national average. Although the results in 2018 were not quite as strong, inspectors found evidence that standards in reading are continuing to improve across the school. Many older pupils read widely and often.
• Pupils’ attainment in the key stage 2 grammar, punctuation and spelling test, has been above the national average over the past two years. This was reflected in the quality of written work that inspectors saw in English books across the school. The proportion of pupils achieving and exceeding the expected standard in writing at the end of key stage 2 was above the national average in 2018.
• School leaders ensure that the achievement of disadvantaged pupils is monitored closely and, where necessary, these pupils receive additional support. The end of key stage 2 assessments show that their attainment is improving, particularly in reading and mathematics.
• Pupils make strong progress in many areas of the wider curriculum, such as physical education and art. However, pupils’ learning and progress in science and geography are inconsistent across the school. This is because some teachers are not as effective in developing pupils’ subject-specific skills.
• Pupils who are at the early stages of learning English, and the high proportion who speak English as an additional language, are supported well and make good progress in their learning. Pupils with SEND make good progress. This is because their specific needs are identified early. Teachers and teaching assistants put in place a comprehensive programme of support to ensure that these pupils make strong progress from their various starting points.

Early years provision Good

• Children start school with skills and abilities which are below those typically found for their age. Most children make good progress during their time in the early years. As a result, the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development has increased over time. In 2018, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development was above the national average. Consequently, children are well prepared for their transition into Year 1.
• Teaching in the early years is good. The indoor and outdoor areas are well organised, purposeful and used well by staff to stimulate children’s imaginations. When working directly with the children, staff make good use of questioning to find out what children know. They encourage children to think hard and help them to move on in their learning.
• Staff are particularly adept at teaching early reading and mathematics. They have developed good systems for checking children’s development. Staff use what they know about children’s skills and abilities to ensure that teaching challenges them to move on in these areas of learning.
• When working with children, staff provide a broad range of interesting experiences. For example, during the inspection, children were learning about Diwali. They worked well with a teaching assistant on an art activity involving rangoli patterns. During this activity, children learned about symmetry and took great care as they added coloured sand to their pictures.
• However, sometimes the activities that staff provide, when children are free to choose their own tasks, are not well thought through. This means that there are times in the day when some children are not learning as well as they could be.
• Overall, children’s behaviour is good. They enjoy learning and playing together and most children help to tidy up when asked. Occasionally, staff need to intervene to gently remind children about school routines and the importance of being kind to each other.
• The leadership and management of the early years is good. The early years leader has a secure understanding of the strengths of the provision and priorities for development to improve children’s outcomes further.
• Strong transition and induction arrangements help to ensure that children settle quickly into school. Parents are encouraged to contribute to the initial assessments that staff make of children’s starting points and they are kept well informed about their children’s progress.
• Leaders in the early years ensure that children are safe at all times. They ensure that children are well looked after in the Nursery and Reception classes. The school’s child protection policies and procedures are well known to staff and implemented consistently.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 105545 Manchester 10046053 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 237 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Janna Welsby Paul Stephenson 01616 810407 www.st-maryscofe.manchester.sch.uk/ admin@st-maryscofe.manchester.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 25–26 May 2016

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• Children in the early years receive full-time education in the Nursery and Reception classes.
• The school is ethnically diverse and a higher than average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is well above average.
• School staff operate a breakfast club each morning on the school premises.
• A section 48 inspection took place on 30 March 2017.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching, learning and assessment in all classes. Some observations were conducted jointly with the headteacher.
• Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ written work in subjects across the curriculum.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan, minutes of governing body meetings, attendance information and safeguarding records.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs leader and the teacher in charge of the early years. Inspectors also met with three members of staff to discuss subject leadership.
• The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, and a representative of the local authority. He also spoke with a school improvement adviser by telephone.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ conduct during breaktimes and lunchtimes.
• Inspectors met with groups of pupils to listen to them read and discuss behaviour and other aspects of school life. Inspectors also spoke with many other pupils informally.
• Inspectors met with parents and took account of the six responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. They also considered the results of the school’s own parent survey.

Inspection team

Paul Tomkow, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Joan Williamson Ofsted Inspector